Romans 13 — Pastor's Corner — Providence Presbyterian Church

IV. It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates,a to honor their persons,b to pay them tribute and other dues,c to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience’ sake.d Infidelity or difference in religion doth not make void the magistrate’s just and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience to him:e from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted;f much less hath the Pope any power or jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or over any of their people; and least of all to deprive them of their dominions or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other pretense whatsoever.g

The Morning Devotional: WCF 23.3 (Part Two)

The Morning Devotional for August 10, 2023
The Westminster Confession of Faith 23.3 (Part Two)

III. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger.

The Morning Devotional: WCF 23.3 (Part One)

The Morning Devotional for August 9, 2023
The Westminster Confession of Faith 23.3 (Part One)

III. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger.

The Morning Devotional: WCF 23.2

The Morning Devotional for August 8, 2023
The Westminster Confession of Faith 23.2

II. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called thereunto;a in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth,b so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasion.c

The Morning Devotional: WCF 23.1

The Morning Devotional for August 7, 2023
The Westminster Confession of Faith 23.1

I. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good, and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil-doers.a

The Morning Devotional: WCF 20.4 (Part One)

The Morning Devotional for July 7, 2023
The Westminster Confession of Faith 20.4
Part One

IV. And because the power which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another; they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.a And for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation; or to the power of godliness; or such erroneous opinions or practices as, either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the Church; they may lawfully be called to account,b and proceeded against by the censures of the Church, and by the power of the Civil Magistrate.c

The Morning Devotional: WCF 19.5

The Morning Devotional for June 27, 2023
The Westminster Confession of Faith 19.5

V. The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof;a and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it.b Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen, this obligation.c

The Pastor’s Corner

The blog of Pastor William F. Hill, Jr.