Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Reflections on the Two Kingdoms
2. Character and Means

Dear friends,

Last week, we started looking at the Lutheran doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. By way of a quick review, you live simultaneously in two different kingdoms because God has established both to govern and order this world. His left-hand kingdom oversees the order of creation and is responsible for keeping order in the world. His right-hand kingdom oversees the order of redemption and is responsible for bringing about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Secular government is one example of the left-hand kingdom, while the Church is the primary manifestation of the right-hand kingdom. For more review, you can find last week’s email HERE or check out the chart below.

This week, we want to draw a big distinction about each kingdom’s character and means for getting the job done.

The left-hand kingdom is foremost a kingdom of law: it accomplishes its mission of keeping order by establishing laws and then enforcing them. Because people don’t always like to keep the laws, the Lord equips Caesar with the sword (Rom. 13:1-4), which in modern times may consist of local law enforcement (police), the military, etc. The authority to stop lawbreaking, sometimes with violent force, is necessary to keep peace in a fallen world. (Sometimes, this enforcement is far less dramatic: When teachers keep a misbehaving child in for recess, they are likewise exercising left-hand kingdom authority that lies within their calling.)

The right-hand kingdom is foremost a kingdom of gospel: it accomplishes its mission of forgiving sins by the proclamation of law and gospel, as well as the administration of the means of grace to penitent sinners. The Lord also equips this kingdom with a sword, though an entirely different kind—the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17). It is by the Word of God that the Spirit works to deliver the forgiveness of sins; and where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Please note that God so orders both kingdoms with original sin in mind. In the kingdom of the left hand, the law must be accompanied by the sword or else sinners will ignore it. In the kingdom of the right hand, the law must be accompanied by the gospel or else penitent sinners will not be forgiven.

When the kingdoms become confused about their mission and means, there’s going to be trouble. At times in history, for instance, Christians have grown impatient with the Word of God as the means for advancing the kingdom, and so they’ve turned to violence: e.g., the message has become “convert or die.” The Reformation era is full of examples, whether it be the Roman Catholic Inquisition, the drowning of Anabaptists by the Reformed under Zwingli, or Luther’s appalling words against the Jews near the end of his life. When the Church turns to force and compulsion to advance the right-hand kingdom, it has put down its sword (the Word) and taken up the sword of the left-hand kingdom. It is never a good thing when the Church sets aside the Word. Soon, in fact, it is no longer the Church at all, but an unauthorized left-hand kingdom.

It is no better when the left-hand kingdom puts down the sword and opts for words alone instead. Original sin is a reality: people by nature want to do the wrong thing to benefit themselves at the expense of others. When a nation ceases to enforce laws and utters platitudes about the goodness of human nature and the equivalence of all creeds, it invites chaos and disorder.

At the same time, there’s always potential for trouble even when each kingdom keeps to its own sword. The left-hand kingdom can use its authority to be heavy-handed with unjust laws and harsh enforcement (even persecution of Christians), and the right-hand kingdom can fall prey to pacifism. quietism and a failure to protect one’s neighbor. We’ll address this with specific matters further in the series; but for now, it is absolutely true that each kingdom can wield its own sword improperly. It’s also important to remember that the two kingdoms rely on each other. If the right-hand kingdom is providing well-catechized Christian citizens who become civil servants and legislators, the laws of the nation will be just and penalties for wrongdoing fair. If the left-hand kingdom is rightly wielding the sword to keep order, the Church can live in peace and go about proclaiming the gospel. Ideally, both kingdoms are working for the good of the other and honoring the other as God’s institution; though in a fallen world, that isn’t always the case. One might argue that, historically, it’s rarely the case.

This seems like a good place to break. Next time, we’ll look at a few examples to compare and contrast the two kingdoms. For now, below you’ll find an updated chart.