This is an error in biblical exegesis.
The reformation was essential and corrected many things, but did not go far enough.
The ecclesia is God's preferred replacement for the state.
https://peakd.com/kingdom/@creatr/the-state-or-god-s-kingdom-a-comparison-chart
Sphere Sovereignty miscategorizes life into "church" and "civil government," while the biblical categories are "Kingdom of God" and "kingdom of satan" aka "the world."
No, brother. Romans 13 (in context) and 1 Peter 2:13 dispute this interpretation. Paul himself submitted to civil jurisdiction of the State, appealing to Caesar, and did not reject his own execution by their hand if just cause could be shown. Jesus too even paid taxes (albeit in a subversive way).
What you're arguing for is some kind of Christian-only society, a theonomy of sorts, and that is not for us now. "Here we have no continuing city..." We are in the world, though not of it. This position would take us out of it altogether. We're pilgrims following Jer. 29:7, with Gen. 9:5-6 still in force for society at large. The beatitudes require an ethic for the church but it does not override the existing ethic for all of mankind.
"Sphere sovereignty" properly categorizes church, family, state, (and any other institution or association) as having authority within its own sphere (the distinction of the church being that it alone is eternal). We still have enforcable property rights. We still have criminals. Christians are not immune from this. Let's not immanentize the eschaton--let's take a lesson from the radical reformers like the anabaptists and Müntzer.
