Christ, not Caesar, Is Head of the Church

 

"It has never been the prerogative of civil government to order, modify, forbid, or mandate worship. When, how, and how often the church worships is not subject to Caesar. Caesar himself is subject to God. Jesus affirmed that principle when He told Pilate, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). And because Christ is head of the church, ecclesiastical matters pertain to His Kingdom, not Caesar’s. Jesus drew a stark distinction between those two kingdoms when He said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (Mark 12:17). Our Lord Himself always rendered to Caesar what was Caesar's, but He never offered to Caesar what belongs solely to God.

As pastors and elders, we cannot hand over to earthly authorities any privilege or power that belongs solely to Christ as head of His church. Pastors and elders are the ones to whom Christ has given the duty and the right to exercise His spiritual authority in the church (1 Peter 5:1–4; Hebrews 13:7, 17)—and Scripture alone defines how and whom they are to serve (1 Corinthians 4:1–4). They have no duty to follow orders from a civil government attempting to regulate the worship or governance of the church. In fact, pastors who cede their Christ-delegated authority in the church to a civil ruler have abdicated their responsibility before their Lord and violated the God-ordained spheres of authority as much as the secular official who illegitimately imposes his authority upon the church."

Read the entire statement here from Grace Community Church.

Also see CA Church Ordered to Stop Worship from The Liberty Council.

See LA Threatens John MacArthur and His Church with Fines, Arrest here at The Federalist.

And See Todd Starnes' John MacArthur to Defy Church Ban.

And hear the Senior Pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills share why his church has followed the Lord's leading, has re-opened to meet needs, and is obeying God rather than following Gov. Newsom's overreaching restrictions on churches. Listen to it here.

Picture used by permission from Pixabay.