[This is part 1 in a series on allegiance to God alone. See part two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine]

Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris 

Many Christians today see no conflict between pledging allegiance to both the Kingdom of God and the earthly kingdoms of this world. On top of their own idolatry leading them to betray God, they have been fooled into slavish ways of thinking by Caesar’s education system that trains people to be proud citizens of human governments rather than to think about the things of God. They were taught at an early age to place their hands over their hearts and unwittingly pledge their allegiance to the State-god. Naturally, they grew into adults who saw no issue between their pledges of allegiance to government, or even their direct service to its military and police forces, and a vague profession of faith and service to God on the other hand (assuming they weren’t stripped of it entirely). For most people, there seems to be no problem with claiming to follow the Lord and pledging allegiance to Caesar.

However, the scriptures make it clear that one must ultimately choose where their loyalty lies. The Christian man cannot be a citizen of two kingdoms, lest they forsake one for the other. The Christian man cannot have his allegiance rest in both God and the kingdoms of this world. Pledging allegiance to flags, the governments that they represent, and swearing oaths to these systems and their gods, negate claims of being a true servant and member of Christ’s kingdom.

To be part of God’s kingdom, one must reject statism. Statism is a false religion that denies God’s sovereignty. It elevates the authority of the State above divine rule. A man cannot have two gods — a heavenly and an earthly father. The two are antagonistic to one another.

Though this idea that Christianity and statism are harmonious is popular in American society, nevertheless it is wrong. It is hypocritical to claim there is any compatibility between “God and country.” A true Christian cannot legitimately proclaim “Jesus is my savior and Trump is my president” or “I stand for the flag and kneel for the cross” — phrases that we hear often among professing Christians today. Such contradictory statements reveal a profound misunderstanding of God and the Christian’s duty to solely serve the Lord.

The choice confronting the Christian man

In short, men must make a choice as to whether they serve God or the State. The kingdoms of this world are rival kingdoms to that of the Lord. They are enemies of God. One cannot simultaneously profess faith in Christ while also serving the interests of man-made authorities. Those who set up human rulers explicitly defy God and His sovereignty (Hosea 8:4; Samuel 8:6-8). Whether one is to serve God and His kingdom or the kingdoms of men is a decisive choice that every follower of Christ must make.

As Joshua makes clear, 

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!'” (Joshua 24:15-16). 

It is not a problem for us if the heathens of the world want to go on serving their state-gods in their worldly delusions. However, those who profess faith in the Lord must firmly reject any notion of divided loyalty or dual-allegiance. As one prophet says, just as clearly as Joshua, 

“Elijah approached all the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him'” (1 Kings 18:21). 

Not of this world

When scripture exhorts men to come out of the world, it is also referring to the ideologies and cultural distortions that we have picked up from the world. These distortions are prominent in American society, where “God and country” have always been hypocritically thought to go hand-in-hand. If we follow the word and spirit of the Lord, however, we should know that we are called away from these false ideas that mix God and statism together.

The notion of “dual citizenship” for Christians is a false idea. It is used by pseudo-Christians to justify their involvement and allegiance to the pagan kingdoms, to vote for pagan gods, and to ally themselves with the false gods of this world that they should have renounced. The Christian cannot also be a proud “American citizen” or involved with such kingdoms whatever. Our citizenship is to be under God alone (Phil 3:20). As Kevin Craig writes in his idea of justification by allegiance, ie., that we are justified precisely by what we are suggesting here that a man must choose between God or the State, 

“‘Citizenship’ as it is used in Philippians 3:20 involves allegiance — and renouncing allegiance to a former ruler or system. That former ruler can be Satan, ‘the powers that be,’ or oneself. One cannot be justified who refuses to renounce his loyalty to any ruler but God. One cannot be justified who refuses to commit himself to total allegiance to God.” 

Our allegiance to God must be total. We are not Christians “in addition” to some citizenship under the kingdoms of men. Rather, our sole citizenship lies in a kingdom that is not of this world, ie., a kingdom that is not like the Roman, Egyptian, or other human systems of government that have plagued humanity forever. Our devotion to God and His kingdom is not a secondary pursuit, but rather precludes our service to earthly powers and their worldly kingdoms.

When Jesus said “let your yes be yes,” He was speaking just as much of our need to give decisive answers as He was of being faithful to your word. Christians must never waver in their allegiance. We are called to serve God’s kingdom alone, not the false kingdoms of the world. These kingdoms are not just mutually-exclusive in form and practice, such that we reject a mixture on the sole ground that they are theoretically or fundamentally different. Scripture makes it clear that God sees great antagonism between them and that His servants are to commit to serving God alone.

God’s command for exclusive allegiance

For some reason, though, this idea that God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of men are enemies is foreign to most people who consider themselves Christians. One would think it would be basic to the faith, considering that such instruction to avoid these false gods is part of the Ten Commandments.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2-3). 

The commandment to have no other gods before the one true God implies that the man-gods of worldly governments are not to be worshiped and regarded as gods at all. This commandment is repeated all throughout scripture. 

“There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god. I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:9-10). 

It is disheartening to see how readily people idolize the State today once we see God’s frequent reminders in scripture of delivering His people from oppressive Egyptian systems like the one we still have today. Though God frees people from the bondage of statism, they still turn away from Him and back towards the very systems from which they need salvation. God offers His followers everything, including the protection that many think only comes from human government, yet many believe they can pursue man-made systems while maintaining a superficial claim to be Christ-followers.

The false converts of today 

Many Christians today place the kingdoms and systems of men before the commandments of God. They put national allegiances, political figures, and cultural institutions over their devotion to God. They are more into flags, yard shrines for politicians, and football than they are serving the Lord. There exists among many professing Christians today a contradictory profession of devotion to the Lord and service and worship of the man-gods of this world. Many so-called Christians think it is state rulers and militaries that save them. They are tricked by the false freedom and security offered by earthly powers into abandoning the sole worship and obedience demanded by the Almighty. They say such foolish things as “God bless our troops” and “God bless our police officers,” and in general think that the systems of men are responsible for a “freedom” that they don’t even have.

Under this idea that a man may serve two masters and is a citizen of two kingdoms and has duties to both, Christianity in America in particular has become entangled with various idols and false gods. Many who call themselves Christians have lost sight of the biblical commands to have no other gods before the one true God. They continue to elect and regard human leaders as their presidents and rightful rulers, not even realizing they are disobeying God’s command to “get rid of the foreign gods among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments” (Genesis 35:2). Despite this, they never once thought that they were at enmity with God for their love of the world (James 4:4). 

A radical devotion to the Lord alone is rather scarce among many Christians in America today, who were easily deceived by the false gods of the State. Most modern-day Christians bear little resemblance to those men in biblical times who were persecuted by governments and yet still defiantly told their rulers, “let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up” (Daniel 3:18). Today, many so-called Christians willingly and proudly pledge allegiance to flags, stand for national anthems, and participate in state holidays that venerate the false “heroes” of the government.

Taking it from Jesus

Serving the Lord faithfully is not merely a passive pursuit of eternal life in heaven, but an active commitment to being a kingdom-seeking Christian on earth. God’s word is not simply some instruction of achieving an end goal of getting to heaven when we die. As true followers of Christ, men should strive to heed His every word and diligently apply it to their daily lives in the here and now. Such a devotion would prevent men from clinging to the false state-gods they still worship today.

It is no surprise that people who call themselves Christians are often more adamant about praising politicians and advancing the kingdoms of this world than they are praising God and further His kingdom. When men fall for the satanic temptation of statism, which Jesus resisted (Luke 4:5-8), they inevitably put their State-gods first — hence why the statist symbolism on people’s houses, yards, and vehicles is more abundant than any signs that they belong to God. For as Jesus said, 

“No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). 

Christians who align themselves with the worldly, satanic powers of this age have strayed far from the teachings of Scripture. They disregard the clear command of the one they claim to follow, who said, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Matthew 4:10). Those who put their faith in government for salvation, believing they can have both God and the State as their saviors, have failed to heed the Lord’s words: “there is no Savior besides Me” (Hosea 13:4; cf. Isa 43:11). 

As Christians, our devotion and service must be to the Lord alone, not to the systems or authorities of men. We must be able to declare with the Psalmist, “I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep Your righteous rules” (Psalm 119:106). Obeying God’s commandment against having other gods, we must reject the notion that worldly powers—the Pharaohs and Caesars of the world—can save us. We cannot serve them simultaneously with our professed faith in the one true God. We are everywhere commanded, 

“Fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:14). 

The ungodly worship of government

For those who have forsaken belief in God, worshiping human authorities is understandable, even if it is misguided. These human rulers are simply their substitute gods that they naturally arrive at in their abandonment of the One True God. It makes perfect sense for the “atheist” to be a statist. In the absence of God, false god-rulers come to fill the void.

However, it is entirely contradictory for someone who claims to follow Christ to lend their spiritual, intellectual, and physical support to human kingdoms and rulers who falsely present themselves as divine. Such behavior is unacceptable for a professed Christian.

People who proclaim allegiance to both God and the false gods of the world, who profess Jesus as their savior while also revering Trump as their president, are like the unfaithful men of old who “who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom [their king]” (Zephaniah 1:5). Such divided loyalty is a form of spiritual adultery, a rejection of the exclusive devotion God demands.

Serving God alone

It is not possible to serve both God and the systems of men. Those who say “Jesus is my savior and Trump is my president” take the Lord’s name in vain. They profess His name but don’t keep His commandments to have no other gods before them. They are, therefore, liars. 

“If anyone says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

Genuine repentance and reform require a complete turning away from the kingdoms of this world. True believers do not try to straddle the line, professing faith in Christ while still clinging to worldly allegiances. They are not fencewalkers who are neither hot nor cold for the Lord, i.e., neither on fire for God and His kingdom nor flat-out in opposition to it. They do not keep one foot in the door and one foot out. They don’t say, “I believe in Jesus but I voted for Trump.” Rather, they walk away from such divided loyalties altogether. They depart from the notion that a man can serve two gods, that he can be a citizen of two kingdoms. 

This is no light matter. It is these things—a renunciation of statism and a pledge of allegiance to the Lord—that allow us to tell who is truly serious about God or not. We cannot simply take someone’s word that they are a Christian. George W. Bush claimed to be a “Christian” as he ordered bombs to be dropped on children. We judge men by the evidence of their changed lives. Verbal declarations of faith hold no weight without the fruit of real transformation. Men must repent of their statism and truly renounce the sinful ideology and devotion that comes with it. As Kevin Craig adds to his idea of justification by allegiance, 

“You are not justified by mere belief alone, or by the mere claim that God is somehow obligated to send you to heaven. You are justified only when you transfer your allegiance to God and His Law, renouncing your previous allegiance to any other authority and any other law: Satan, ‘the nation-state,’ or oneself.”

Being a true follower of Christ means obediently keeping His commandments and wholeheartedly seeking His literal kingdom. Christ says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). We are called to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). 

Truly devoting oneself to the Lord means unequivocally rejecting the kingdoms of this world as false gods — something that voters and the average proud citizens of nation-states have failed to do. It is this unwavering commitment to serve the Lord alone, rather than wavering between competing allegiances, that demonstrates one’s status as a true servant of God. It is choosing this day whom we will serve that shows whether we serve the true and living God or the false man-gods of this world.

Conclusion

As we see, many have embraced the ideology of statism and found no conflict between God and Egyptian systems as ours, which indeed they have found to be compatible and even inseparable to one another. They have relegated their religious beliefs—their claims of faith in God—to secondary, heavenly, or spiritual concerns about the afterlife or personal salvation. God is something of a backburner issue to them while politicians take the forefront of their faith. They don’t believe that Jesus is their King who is deserving of exclusive allegiance but regard Him as something more of a “personal savior” who they “let into their heart.” Again, as they admit themselves, Jesus is merely a savior while Trump is their president/king.

However, pledging allegiance to the State and its “false gods” demonstrates a failure to give exclusive loyalty and allegiance to God. Buying into the philosophy of statism and its pantheon of false gods shows that one is not at all giving their exclusive allegiance to God, but that they are rather serving the systems of men. It doesn’t matter how much they throw “under God” in their devilish pledge of allegiance to human government, which is nothing more than taking God’s name in vain. Pledging allegiance to governments is ungodly.

It is no innocent or insignificant matter that men have thought that it’s possible to have other gods before the Lord. It says everything about where their true allegiance lies. The true mark of a Christian is that he can say, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).