When Jesus was asked by the Pharisees who “plotted together how they might trap Him” if it was “permissible to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not,” Jesus answered, “pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). We don’t live under Caesar, and if we did, Caesar was bound to follow God’s limitations on his civil office because God’s image is stamped on him. We have specific constitutional freedoms in the same way that elected officeholders have constitutional limitations. Our rulers do not have a “divine right” to rule. They are “ministers of God” (Rom. 13:4) even if they do not recognize God’s sovereignty over them. In a sense, the Constitution is our “Caesar” (Matt. 22:21), but unlike Caesar, the Constitution binds and limits those who rule in terms of it. As citizens, we can replace our rulers. Civil authorities govern at our discretion but under the watchful eye of God.
