[This is part 5 in a series on allegiance to God alone. See part one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine]

Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

In a previous article, we argued that a person cannot faithfully serve two masters. God and government are competing “archists” (rulers) or rival kingdoms to one another. The Christian’s allegiance must lie solely with God, not divided between God and the demands of human governments or authorities. The Christian must come out of the kingdoms of this world.

There is a further point that we should make to those who might view the allegiance to the Lord alone is some sort of mindless, religious-like devotion: There are real consequences for turning away from God.

Though worshiping God alone because He is God is good enough for me, there is still the point that the problems with our world today are a direct result of having turned from God and toward the man-gods of this world. It was not without its real-world social effects that men wouldn’t swear allegiance to God alone, as if men can truly do whatever they want without facing consequences for their actions — that they could set up human rulers, socialize whole economic systems, form legislatures to pass thousands of man- made laws, and everything would be alright. This is the old lie from Satan in the Garden that “you shall surely not die” if you disobey God (Genesis 3:4).

Despite the lies by statists that all is good and well under a rebellious social order as political systems entail, God vows to punish those who abandon their allegiance to Him in favor of the kingdoms of this earth.

“But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples” (2 Chronicles 7:19-20). 

The evils to expect from statism

We repent from statism not just because God arbitrarily renders it ungodly (or something like that), but because it is actually wrong and brings negative social effects to humanity: tax plunder, conscription, war, monetary inflation, economic cycles, depressions, famines, and genocides. There is nothing good that can come from trusting in the Egyptian systems of the world, which set up man-gods as the alleged protectors of society. 

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD’” (Jeremiah 17:5).

Many still proudly declare the United States the “greatest country in the world,” believing its military and political might have made it so. However, God promises that all such political pride will be brought low. Those who entrust their salvation to governments will be disappointed by these false idols.

“Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed” (Isaiah 20:5). 

Placing faith in the false “religious order” of statism, with its kings, militaries, and law enforcers, inevitably backfires on the people.

“Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him” (Isaiah 36:6). 

Merely claiming the name of Lord or wearing a cross necklace while shouting “back the blue” is not evidence that one is a changed man. Such people who mix God and statism are championing the very people (police, soldiers, politicians) who God sends as judgment on sinners who go out of their way to ignore God’s law. Nor do true Christians serve these systems. God’s people do not drive around in police cruisers looking for revenue to bring back to Pharaoh. Professing Christianity while actively participating in worldly, ungodly systems, or saying you believe in God but disregarding His commandments, is hypocritical and falls short of genuine faith. Those who truly believe in and know God keep His commandments (John 14:15, 14:23, 15:10; 1 John 2:3, 5:3; 2 John 1:6). 

A truly repentant notion from the widely accepted ideology and practice of statism is to renounce one’s former belief that governments can save them and that they may serve in these militaries to “protect our country” — to confess, with the prophet, that “Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses” (Hosea 14:3). 

Believers must renounce their allegiance to earthly governments and recognize that God demands exclusive devotion. Yet millions of professing Christians in America see no conflict between their faith and active political engagement, including enthusiastic support for those in power.

God’s hatred of partial-allegiance

Certain biblical passages even suggest that God intends to destroy precisely those who try to divide their allegiance, such as “Christian Americans” who claim devotion to Christ while also aligning themselves with the American imperial system. As one commentator says of the opening words of the prophet Zephaniah (Zep 1:1-18), who is preaching the word of the Lord of judgment upon the earth, 

“The sinners to be consumed are, the professed idolaters, and those that worship Jehovah and idols, or swear to the Lord, and to Malcham. Those that think to divide their affections and worship between God and idols, will come short of acceptance with God; for what communion can there be between light and darkness? If Satan have half, he will have all; if the Lord have but half, he will have none. Neglect of God shows impiety and contempt” (Matthew Henry Commentary, Zephaniah 1:1-6). 

God finds it more detestable when people claim to follow Him but only partially do so, rather than when people openly reject Him altogether. He would rather people admit they are completely ungodly and evil than have them use His name in vain, such as by associating “In God We Trust” with political plunder, as state rulers do with their pagan courthouses, inflationary fiat currency, and plunderous police vehicles. Those who are only halfway committed, ie., neither fully devoted to God nor entirely apathetic, are the “lukewarm” Christians that God finds reprehensible (Rev 3:15). As another commentary says of these people the prophet Zephaniah was referring to, 

“These were such as partly worshiped God, and partly idols; they divided their religion and devotion between them, sometimes served the one, and sometimes the other; they halted between two opinions, and were a sort of occasional conformists; and such were as detestable to God as those that worshiped idols” (Gill’s Exposition, Zephaniah 1:5). 

A person cannot genuinely follow the Lord while also believing in and serving the systems of human government, whether in their thoughts or actions. Such people are those who the scriptures rebuke as men who “say they worship God, and yet will swear by idols and serve them” (Geneva Study Bible, Zephaniah 1:5). 

Being saved by men?

While some men are starting to realize that political systems work against their interests, they still cling to the belief that new rulers will save them, without needing to renounce their allegiance to the false gods of government. They believe they will be saved from their enemies without the need to repent. They have wrongly assumed they can divide their loyalty between God and the gods of human government. And they don’t believe they need to admit this error. True repentance, as shown in scripture, requires men to fully reject these false gods before the Lord.

“Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You'” (1 Samuel 12:10). 

God warns us that supporting political gods (presidents, politicians, etc) for ourselves will lead to our own subjugation. Yet, as God knows better than anyone, men most often stubbornly disregard His message, resisting the call to remove these false idols from their hearts, minds, and lives. 

“I told you, ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me” (Judges 6:10). 

Many Christians today have divorced their faith from earthly matters, relegating God to a purely spiritual, heavenly realm with no bearing on the physical world. They have instead embraced man-made authorities and ideologies. This has enabled them to say things like “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president” without seeing a conflict. These Christians view God’s kingdom as something that will simply descend from the sky, rather than something they are called to actively work towards and advance. As a result, they see no contradiction in sharing their loyalty between God and men — in maintaining citizenship in both the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men. In their minds, there is no Christian duty to seek God’s will on earth or take dominion. (Matt 3:2, 6:9-10, 28:18). They reason they might as well participate in worldly powers until God destroys them at the end of time, without feeling compelled to fully commit to God’s cause and build a radically different kingdom in the present. This theological compartmentalization allows them to avoid repenting from serving earthly, man-made systems.

Returning to the Lord

No matter how entangled we may become in the ways of the world, it is never too late to turn back to the Lord. Yet, many assume that we have passed the point of no return and might as well continue to engage in the political systems of the world. They have resigned themselves to persisting in their misdeeds when repenting from them is the very thing needed to turn things around. Since the world is corrupted (precisely because men turned away from God), this somehow causes men to avoid genuine repentance and stop believing in restoration through faith in God.

Despite the challenges we face in this world, our lives on earth are not hopeless. Though we may suffer under the tyranny of human governments and the ideology of statism, which we may well understand as a curse from God for our disobedience, God stands ready to bless those who return to Him with genuine peace and prosperity. Indeed, God offers a path out of the oppressive Egyptian slave society for those who no longer believe that governments are essential to their protection, peace, prosperity, and salvation.

“If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land. And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you. You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new. And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness” (Leviticus 26:3-13). 

Despite the sin of statism, God is ever-ready to welcome back those who have strayed. However, this restoration requires repentance — a renunciation of allegiance to earthly powers and an admission of the folly in forsaking the Lord for the false promises of worldly kingdoms. God always wants His children back, but it requires that they walk away from serving the kingdoms of this world.  

“‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’  declares the LORD. ‘Return, O faithless children,’ declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding'” (Jeremiah 3:12-15).