Tyranny is God's wrath against sin - but He desires that we live not under His wrath, but under His law, so we may have freedom and fulfill our duty unto both man and God in peace, enjoying the peace that Christ has purchased for us.

You have to remember that the concept of praying for Kings and Rulers in authority was extremely offensive at this time. You may pray unto Caesar, but praying for Caesar was a direct denial of both his claim of deity and sovereignty. It was a revolutionary act and the foundation of Rome's criminal charges against Christians as atheists.

A lawful civil magistrate can do more to advance the Gospel by upholding justice than most people realize - it provides continuity between law and gospel where the heathen can see and understand the gospel. Whereas the flip side, good becomes evil, evil becomes good and our preaching against sin has no real world example because it is an abstraction - sin goes unpunished and indeed generally those who embrace in those situations prosper.

So, I interpret these passages within the historical context they are written in, that under the Great Commission the civil magistrate is an aid unto the Church demonstrating God's justice in a visible and tangible form and the Gospel is no longer an other-worldly abstraction to people.

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Thomas Weddle
Member, Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church
Evansville, Indiana