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Modern Christians assume the civil government must stay neutral toward religion. Scripture never teaches this. God commanded rulers to remove idolatry, tear down its places, and guard the public square from false worship. Neutrality is the expectation of our age, but God demands allegiance.
The Biblical Pattern
The Lord ordered civil rulers to uproot false worship from their lands:
“You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire.”
Deuteronomy 12:2–3
These commands were not limited to priests. Kings like Josiah led nation-wide reforms that destroyed temples, altars, and idols. Their reforms were counted as righteousness because they carried out the duty God gave to civil authorities.
2 Kings 23 records that Josiah tore down idols, broke altars, removed mediums, and restored true worship.
2 Chronicles 14 shows Asa removing foreign worship and commanding Judah to seek the Lord.
Scripture presents these kings as models for all rulers because the moral law binds every nation. Psalm 2 teaches that all kings must kiss the Son and serve Him with fear. Pagan rulers were judged for idolatry because their authority is derived from God and accountable to His law.
This pattern does not dissolve in the New Covenant. Christ received all authority in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18 is a proclamation of universal kingship. Romans 13 describes rulers as servants of Christ who bear the sword to punish evil. Idolatry is evil. Public worship of false gods is a violation of the first table of the law, and rulers are obligated to uphold the entire moral law in public life.
Suppressing public idolatry does not intrude on private conscience. The state has no authority to compel saving faith. It does have authority to restrain public acts of false worship because these acts shape a culture, teach a people, and defy the rule of Christ. Historic Christian theology recognized this distinction clearly: the conscience belongs to God alone, but the public square belongs to the jurisdiction of the magistrate.
The Reformed Consensus
This has been the position of the Church through the centuries.
Calvin taught that magistrates must uphold the pure worship of God and abolish idolatry.
Bullinger wrote that Christian rulers must remove false religion from public life.
Knox labored to persuade Scotland’s rulers to tear down Roman altars and reestablish true worship.
The Second Helvetic Confession affirms the duty of rulers to preserve the ministry of the gospel and remove public corruption.
The original Westminster Assembly agreed that magistrates must protect true worship and suppress public false religion as part of their office.
Christ rules nations, not only individuals. Rulers are accountable to Him now.
Semper Reformanda
Objection: “The magistrate must remain religiously neutral and protect all faiths.”
Response: Scripture denies the existence of neutrality. Psalm 2 commands kings to serve the Lord. Romans 13 calls rulers servants of Christ. God judged pagan nations because they promoted false worship. A civil ruler who protects idolatry is not neutral. He is in rebellion. He shields the very thing God condemns.
Objection: “Protecting true worship violates liberty of conscience.”
Response: Liberty of conscience protects inward belief. Civil authority deals with public acts. The magistrate cannot make a man love Christ, but he can restrain practices that publicly deny Him. The Reformers saw this clearly. Scripture divides private faith from public worship. God alone governs the heart, but rulers govern the order of society.
Truth That Withstands
Christ is King of the nations. His law binds all people. Civil rulers are not free to bless what God condemns. Public idolatry destroys nations because it defies the One who rules them. The magistrate must restrain it because Christ commands it. Neutrality is a myth. Allegiance is required. Rulers will answer to Christ for how they governed, and nations will rise or fall according to their obedience to Him.