I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 1 Corinthians 6.5, 6

The state, as Paul and Peter remind us, has been established by God to accomplish His good purposes (Rom. 13.1-4; 1 Pet. 2.13, 14). Thus, believers must work within the civil structures of society to ensure that governments act in accord with the teaching of God’s Law. The Church must not presume to enact civil judgments against its members or others. Rather, because the state also is subject to the righteousness and justice of God’s Law (Ps. 9.7, 8: Dan. 4.27; Matt. 14.1-4), believers must labor to persuade civil magistrates of the essential wisdom, goodness, and justice of the Law of God.

This they do through the political process, electing leaders who fear the Lord and auguring for laws that reflect the character and purposes of the Law of God. But even in this arena believers must remember that, in the age of grace, not even the vilest offender is completely cut off from the reach of God’s Spirit and Truth. Penalties for violating the Law of God must, therefore, leave room for grace to work; they must not be so harsh as to harden the hearts, but they must be sufficiently harsh as to achieve justice and encourage behavioral change.

There is a role for civil government to fulfill in overseeing a just society, where neighbor-love obtains through submission – even grudging submission (Ps. 81.15; Ps. 66.3 – both, NASB) – to the standards and sanctions of the Law of God. But in the Church, no actions must be taken against offenders of God’s Law to which they do not willingly submit. The single exception would be in the Church’s authority to excommunicate unrepentant offenders, leaving them to the wiles of the devil and the pleasure of the state until they repent of their wickedness, make all due restoration, and return to their proper place in the Body of Christ.

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