Sovereignty*
Sovereignty is defined as dominion, rule, power, or authority. The sovereign of any society is the ultimate lawgiver of that society. Today, sovereignty is claimed only by the state. We speak of sovereign states or sovereign nations that claim this authority. In earlier times, the clan leader or tribal chief was the sovereign lawgiver in his society. For example, Louis XIV of France said “l’etat, c’est moi” (the state, it’s me). He saw himself as Sovereign; law sprang from his mind and his lips.
In the Christian West, sovereignty was generally understood to belong to God alone. The authority of kings was considered to be derivative from God and subordinate to God. This was affirmed by the Council of Chalcedon (a.d. 451) when it declared of Christ, the God-man, that His human nature was distinct and separate from His divinity. In other words, they underscored the premise that men could not become gods or participate to any degree in the divine nature. Sovereignty was expelled from earth and restricted to heaven.
This was an important milestone in Christian history. It provided the theological foundation for Christian liberty and led to a degree of freedom for the common man never before seen in history. How so? Rulers could no longer, as many of the ancient emperors did, claim divinity—and the sovereignty concomitant with it. They could not say, “My word is law because I am a god,” rather, they had to resort to claiming to be God’s representative and merely the administrator of His law. Now, to be an administrator is a far cry from being a sovereign ruler. An administrator is required to justify his decisions and actions from his sovereign’s words or instructions. If adhered to, this greatly curtails his ability to rule in an unjust manner and extends liberty to the citizenry.
In the Christian world, the decisions and laws set by kings could be and often were challenged by church officials based on Scripture. The Pope had much influence and real power in that he could order an interdict and shut down all church services in a nation. Pope Innocent III did this in 1207 when King John of England refused to accept Stephen Langton, the man the Pope had selected, to be Archbishop of Canterbury. The effect was dramatic; all churches were closed and no baptisms, weddings, or funerals were held for more than a year. The outcry was so great that even this stubborn King eventually had to give ground, and, in 1215, submitted and signed the Magna Charta, an agreement to surrender the kingdom of England to “God and the Saints Peter and Paul.” Because the common people understood that sovereignty belonged to God only, the power of kings was limited and at least a measure of freedom was preserved.
A serious impairment to this principle of sovereignty came from within the church itself in the form of doctrinal heresy. It originated with Pelagius, a fifth-century figure who denied the doctrine of original sin. Pelagius claimed that man is basically good and morally unaffected by the Fall. This teaching was fought by Augustine and rejected by the church. But not long after, the church adopted a variant of the original teaching called semi-pelagianism where salvation became the cooperative effort of God and man. This toehold on man’s sovereignty was retained until the Reformation. The Reformers rejected it; but, soon after, Jacob Arminius resurrected a similar heresy. In a desperate effort to retain some degree of sovereignty for man, he taught that salvation was by faith in Christ but that it was man who decided whether or not to accept it.
The Arminian doctrine was rejected in 1618 at the Synod of Dordt (also Dort or Dordrecht) but it has revived since and is now a prevalent teaching in many evangelical churches. It effectively places God at man’s mercy. He is pictured seated in heaven, having sent His Son to die for sinful man, wringing His hands and hoping His beloved creatures will accept His salvation. God makes salvation available but it is man who decides to accept the offer or not. In this scenario, the final determiner of who is saved and who is lost is sovereign man.
Sadly, the concept that God is the only sovereign has been all but lost. Today, virtually everyone, even Christians, have accepted the premise that nations are sovereign and can formulate their own laws independent of God. This has led to a great expansion of rules and regulations and much loss of individual freedom throughout the world. The removal of this obstacle to sovereignty cleared the way for the rich and powerful to take control of governments, converting republics and democracies into their personal, self-serving oligarchies. As a consequence, freedom— around the world and especially in America—is now evaporating at an accelerating rate.
The concept of God as the only sovereign power, the only final source of law, must be restored before we can make any real progress toward establishing a Christian culture and regaining the liberty we once enjoyed.
* Taken from: “Faith on Earth?” pp. 82-84