We all stumble over ourselves when caught off guard by a question for which we are not prepared. According to a Crosswalk.com article from 8 October 2024, this apparently occurred when a 15-year-old asked Albert Mohler, who is a cultural commentator and the president of the Southern Baptist Seminary, whether a state might be biblically authorized to leave the United States.
Mohler confidently responded that “the biblical response is clear.” Then, he did everything except quote the Bible. Not a single scripture was offered to substantiate his claim. Instead, Mohler spoke of the Civil War, treason, and the 1869 Supreme Court case of Texas vs. White, asserting from these arguments that the “states have no such power” to leave. All of these so-called reasons have been debunked by Daniel Miller in his book, TEXIT: Why and How Texas Will Leave the Union (2018).
Our focus now turns to the Bible because that was the purpose of the young man’s question. In his response, Mohler never offered a single verse of scripture. So, like the young man, we ask what the Bible has to say about leaving the Union.
God delegated authority to man. When Noah stepped off of the ark, God issued to man the responsibility to police himself and delegated to him the necessary authority to fulfill the duty. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed” (Gen 9:6). This is the origin, the genesis, of government. Jesus, Himself, accepted and approved this principle when He stood before Pilate. Pilate chided Jesus for not speaking to him, and he informed Jesus that he had the power to take Jesus’ life (John 19:10). To this, Jesus responded: “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above” (John 19:11).
God gave prime directives to government. The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that the governing authorities have two prime directives: Protect the good and punish the evil (Rom 13:3-4). Notice that the sword is not borne in vain. This concurs with the premise that the government has power of life and death (Gen 9:6). Paul, like Jesus, acquiesced to this precept when he declared that he was ready to die if he had violated the law (Acts 25:11). Thus, the government must protect the law keepers and punish the law breakers. When government fulfills these duties, man is able to “lead a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Tim 2:2).
God authorizes men to choose their form of government. Generic authority authorizes anything that falls under its scope, as long as it does not violate some other precept. For example, the command to the apostles to go into all the world (Matt 28:19; Mark 16:15) required the specific action of going, but it generically authorized any form of transportation (e.g., walking, riding, boating, flying, etc.), as long as some other law is not violated (e.g., stealing the car). With government, God requires man to govern himself, but God generically authorizes man to choose the form or type of government to which he will subject himself, as long as the form of government follows the prime directives. Governments that do not comply are not approved by God.
Forms of government include monarchy, democracy, communism, totalitarianism, etc. The Founding Fathers of the United States and of Texas chose a Republic as their form of government. A Republic is a system in which the people elect leaders to represent them. Yet, knowing the corruption that often accompanies power, shackles were fastened to the leaders in the Constitution to prevent the abuse of power against the people. The Old Testament and secular history are replete with accounts of such corruption. When the people grew weary of governmental abuse, they exercised their God-given authority and enacted measures to curb such behavior (Dan 6:15). Even so in our founding documents.
The Declaration of Independence rests upon “truths” that are “self-evident;” namely, “that all men are created equal,” and that “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” The fact that the death penalty is to be executed against a murderer inherently infers that life is to be protected and punishment is to be inflicted against the violators. The Right to Life is an unalienable right, except when the rights of others are violated. Jefferson and Madison also wrote that “governments are instituted” to “secure these rights” and that the power of government is derived from the “consent of the governed.” Observe how fluidly they followed the precept God handed down to Noah and the prime directives outlined by Paul (Gen 9:6; Rom 13:3-4).
The Texas Constitution acknowledges that “all political power is inherent in the people” (Art. 1, Sect. 2). Also declared are the terms under which Texas will continue in the Union (Art. 1, Sect. 1). It is understood in any covenantal agreement that, when the terms are violated, one or more parties may choose to end the covenant. This is so declared in the Texas Constitution (Art. 1, Sect. 2).
The U.S. Constitution says absolutely nothing about a state leaving the Union. Therefore, the 10th Amendment becomes applicable, leaving Texas (and the other individual states) to decide for itself if and when it should leave the Union. The Constitutionality of departing the Union is indubitable.
God authorizes changes in the form of government. From the preceding premises, the delegation of authority (Gen 9:6), the prime directives (Rom 13:3-4), and the principle of generic authority clearly establishes a biblical foundation on which men may stand when the forming of government is necessary and when the dissolution and/or amending of that form of government is necessary. The very fact that men are authorized to establish their chosen system of governance inherently includes the authority to change it or abolish it! If not, why not?
The violations of the current administration, and several past administrations, of the federal government stand open for all to see. Many scream for transparency of corrupt officials, yet they refuse to observe the obvious power they wield in their own hands – power given to them by God Almighty – to solve the problem.
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